FREEHOLD – A Massachusetts man was convicted Tuesday of robbing and beating an 82-year-old Tinton Falls man in 2009 while trying to steal his car at his home, the prosecutor’s office announced Wednesday.

Rafael Laboy and his cousin were driving a stolen car to Miami Beach on May 21, 2009 when they broke down on the parkway in Tinton Falls, Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said in a news release. While looking for another car, they knocked on an 82-year-old man’s door asking to use the phone, which he refused but offered to call for help for them.

The two left but returned to the man’s house around 2 a.m., kicked the door in and punched him, knocking him to the ground, Gramiccioni said. Laboy continued to beat the man up by kicking him and hitting him in the head with a lamp while his cousin searched for the man’s car keys, he said.

They then stole the car and abandoned it in Miami Beach, Gramiccioni said. Authorities identified Laboy and his cousin through the two stolen cars and arrested them on June 13, 2009.

The victim was treated at the hospital for multiple facial fractures and had to be re-admitted four other times over a two-month period. The man required surgery for a life-threatening condition, Gramiccioni said.

Laboy was found guilty of first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, third-degree aggravated assault and third-degree theft, and is awaiting sentencing at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 22, and Laboy is eligible for an extended term because he is a persistent offender, Gramiccioni said.

He faces a maximum of life in prison for the robbery conviction, up to 20 years for the burglary conviction and up to 10 years each on the theft and aggravated assault convictions if he is sentenced to the extended term, Gramiccioni said.

The other man, Eddie Laboy, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery in 2009 and cooperated with the prosecution of his cousin, Gramiccioni said. He was sentenced in 2010 to 10 years in prison as part of a plea agreement.

The case was investigated by the prosecutor’s office and the Tinton Falls Police Department.